Cascade box set 2, p.60
Cascade Box Set 2, page 60
Sam lowered his radio, briefly pushed his rifle’s barrel outside of the pillar and fired off a few shots in the direction they were originally heading. The sound of ricocheting was quickly followed by another burst of energy. The smell of burning concrete filled the air and a plume of dust started to rain down to the floor.
“I don’t think it’s an alien, maybe some form of drone that has been waiting for us to appear,” said Sam.
“It has not moved any closer to us…” said Miles. He suddenly sensed the E.L.F close by.
“What?” said Sam noticing Miles’ distraction.
“The E.L.F, it’s near us, but I can’t spot it in the dark.”
The bright orange stream of light once again pierced the absolute black around them, but this time it was concentrated on a completely different area. Close to where they came in.
Sam flicked his goggles back on, but held them away from his face. “I think I can see—” The laser targeted the same area, causing Sam to momentarily close his eyes. “— Yeah, I can see the E.L.F it keeps darting around, the drone thing can’t target it quick enough.” He raised his head. “This is our chance.” Using the pillar behind him, he pushed himself up, and looked away from where the light was spewing from. He clicked on his radio. “Everyone get ready, the E.L.F is drawing the things fire, next time you see a flash of light, aim your fire where I’m firing. Over.” He stood, waiting, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Come on...
A bright flash turned on and off and he stepped quickly out from behind the pillar and scanned the area for any sign of the source. A tiny sparkle emanated on a far wall which he began firing at. The others joined in. Deafening cracks and clatters echoed around the plain walls.
Sam stepped forward letting off more volleys towards the point, which was still sparkling. It suddenly grew brighter in intensity, and he ducked, the shearing light sliced through the top of his helmet, burning his scalp. “Keep firing!” He shouted.
He walked forward again and then felt a sudden presence close by. Looking to his right, the creature seemingly made of shadows bounded forward, zigzagging, then leaped through the air. The laser streaked outwards again, but missed the creature, which smashed into it. Sparks jumped from where he impacted, and then darkness returned to the ground floor of the new skyscraper.
“Is it dead?” shouted Miles from behind a pillar. “Did Jerry kill it?”
Sam pushed his goggles up then returned to using his flashlight. He waved it in the general direction of the far wall. The creature known as ‘Jerry’ was sniffing pieces of what looked like some form of alien gun turret. “Yup, he sure did.”
Everyone else stood and walked forward.
Sam looked back to Boe and sighed, then swept his lights beam around the other bodies which lay like dolls, some not complete. He listened to his radio again. The white noise with the intermittent pauses was still playing out. The signal strength was ninety percent.
“The source of the S.O.S is in this building somewhere. Let’s find the stairs, but keep alert for any more of those devices.”
They all moved forward stepping over the dead until they reached the far corner, and a rectangular gap in the wall. Stairs with no railings reached upwards.
Sam pointed his light at the steps which had a trail of blood over them. “We got blood here.”
They all slowly ascended, peering around every corner slowly, expecting a bright flash of light to end them. After a few anxious moments they came out to the first floor.
Sam immediately saw two men lying against a wall. “Isaiah?” He ran forward trying to keep his flashlight pointed at the men.
“I knew you’d be fool enough to rescue me,” said Isaiah.
Sam then Joan kneeled next to him. She immediately felt his neck.
Sam went to ask if he was injured but then noticed the dark red patch on his friend’s pants.
“Got a busted leg, doc, but ain’t nothing I can’t deal with. Check on Kyle first. I tried to keep him awake, but he stopped talking about an hour ago. He’s still got a pulse.”
Sam grabbed and squeezed his friend’s shoulder.
“Owwwl man, what you doing,” responded Isaiah curtly.
“I thought it was your leg that was hurt?”
“It all hurts!”
Joan quickly examined the man lying next to Isaiah. “His pulse is okay, but he has a head wound, and looks like some internal injuries. We need to get them both back to the bunker.”
CHAPTER FOUR
General Mitchell's knuckles had turned white a few minutes earlier as she stood in her office, gripping the front of her desk. “How do you lose a twelve foot high alien!?”
Abbey, Erin and Captain Knave who was responsible for bunker security stood in front of her.
“We had it confined to one section near storage room—”
“I don’t care where you thought it would be Captain, I want to know how it managed to leave our bunker system without anyone even knowing it had left?”
The Captain fumbled for an explanation.
“General—” Erin walked forward and sat sideways on the front of her desk. “—It’s not the Captain’s fault if a being of advanced intellect and technology finds a way to evade our primitive security measures.”
Abbey watched the general visibly relax, and a chill ran through her. From what she knew of the general she was not a woman who let go of her anger so easily.
Mitchell sat down on her chair. “We can’t have these things coming and going as they please. What’s stopping any of them from just killing all of us? Do we even know how it escaped?”
“Elcher was never our prisoner general,” said Abbey.
Mitchell looked at her angrily. “And you! That thing was your friend, correct?”
Before Abbey could talk Erin interjected. “Jessica. May I call you Jessica?”
“Umm…”
“The alien has gone. How does it help us now to argue over that fact?”
“Well I guess—”
The more Erin talked the more Abbey knew who was really in control of the bunker and the few thousand people that resided inside its labyrinth of tunnels.
Raj you need to finish that toxin.
A short while later, she and Erin were walking back to the Cascaders living quarters. No words had passed between them. Suddenly he stopped and stood in front of her.
“I’m sensing some hostility from you.” It was a statement from Erin not a question.
Her mind raced trying to discover the best way to hide her true feelings. “Well…”
“Yes?”
“I don’t like how you were towards Zach.” It wasn’t a lie and did a good job of covering up the truth.
He looked confused. “I have not shown any anger towards him. Did he say something to you?”
She could feel his waves of persuasion wash over her and she had to answer with honesty. “No…”
“Then I—” A soldier appeared behind Abbey and in front of Erin. “Yes what is it?”
She turned around.
“General Felton is on comms in the CIC for Ms. Reisner,” said the soldier.
Immediately she started backing off.
“We will clean up this misunderstanding, later,” said Erin. She nodded and followed the soldier out of the corridor.
As she turned the corner, out of the view of the leader of the Cascaders, she let out a breath.
“Is there anything wrong ma’am?” Said the soldier.
“I’m fine, let’s go.”
Soon they were in the CIC. The soldier pointed her to a headset that was lying on one of the desks.
She picked it up and held it to her face. “Zach?”
There were a few seconds of delay. “I’m here Abbey. The signal is being relayed through the outpost in Kentucky, so there will be some delay. Are you okay? Over.”
A flush of warmth ran through her. A single tear began to run down her cheek which she brushed away, hoping no one around her had seen. “I’m okay! How are you? Have the Hulathen left? Err… Over.”
“We managed to get around twenty percent of the population of the camp, into the main bunkers, including most of the young, sick and elderly, the others are sheltering in smaller bunkers and other buildings. Some Hulathen and their craft have been spotted within the walls of the camp, but not to the extent as before when they attacked in larger numbers. They took a number of E.L.F’s and Cascaders. Any sign of them up there? I heard that Elcher was there? Over.”
She went to reply when Raj appeared in the small room, she could see the sweat on his forehead even from a few feet away. He walked straight to her.
“Hold on, Zach. Over.”
Raj leaned in close to her, trying to look less suspicious to the soldiers around him. “I did it.”
“Did?... oh.”
“You ready to go?” He whispered.
She subtly nodded then felt his hand press on her side, the side that was hidden from everyone else in the room. Her fingers drifted to his and took the small flat box from him.
“Get that to the labs in the camp, they will know what to do with it.” He then backed away.
“I’ll tell Zach you said hello!” she said a bit louder than she needed too.
Raj smiled then looked around the room and left.
“Zach? Sorry, right, yeah where was I…”
On the way out of the CIC she played the plan of how to leave the bunker system, over in her head. It seemed easy enough, the only problem is that it relied upon a man she hated more than the one she was trying to escape from.
Before she entered the corridor to the Cascaders living quarters she tucked the five inch long flat container under the front of her top, hoping it wasn’t too obvious. She thought about stashing it somewhere within the tunnels, but if the fate of humanity was inside the box, she wasn’t going to risk it being out of her sight.
Maybe I can just run. Grab my stuff where I left it and go.
She played with the idea, but then discarded it. She had no idea how far Erin’s influence reached, and she wasn’t going to risk getting all the way to the main exit to the tunnels just for his words to start flowing through her mind, and for her to change direction and be pulled back.
Taking a deep breath she walked into the corridor. The two Cascader guards were standing outside the double doors as always. She smiled at them as she approached, and one of them opened the door for her. Entering, the scene was the usual one, some Cascaders sleeping, some playing games, while others were involved in conversation. And as always Erin with a small group of cohorts was at the end of the room sitting at one of the tables. She saw him look up as soon as she walked into the room. Clovis was standing against the wall not far behind him.
She walked to her bed, picked up her single pillow, turned it over then placed it back down. Sneaking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw Clovis kneel down, open one of the kitchen cupboard doors, then after a short pause, close it and walked in her direction.
Time to go.
Not wanting to look in Erin’s direction, she walked away from her bed and towards the double doors. Clovis started to follow when she was a few feet in front of him.
“Where you going? Come join us Abbey!” shouted Erin across the long room.
Suddenly her legs felt heavy. Looking down, her feet had stopped moving forward. The doors were only a few yards away but it might as well have been miles. She felt a breath on her neck.
“We gotta go,” said Clovis just behind her.
“I’m trying,” she said within gritted teeth.
Clovis walked past her, pushed the double door open, took a look back then disappeared from view.
She swore under her breath and pushed even more effort into her thighs. She took a tentative step forward.
“Abbey? Come play poker with us!” This time Erin’s voice reverberated through her. She started to turn when the kitchen cupboard exploded.
Muffled Screams filled the air. Abbey realized she was on the ground, her head against the side of a bed. She unsteadily got to her feet, trying to see through the thick smoke which filled one half of the room.
Bomb.
In a flash of panic she pulled the box from under her top. It was undamaged. She then looked at the people around her, most were getting to their feet as well. Some had trickles of blood across their faces. She staggered forward then suddenly realized she felt lighter. At first she couldn’t understand why, then when she saw Erin unconscious on the ground, she knew she had her answer. Some of the others around him were also out cold, some were bleeding. She wanted to stay and help, but knew this was her chance. She turned and headed for the doors.
*****
The cool night air washed over her face as she pushed her head up and out of the manhole. There was still a ringing in her ears, but as soon as she pulled herself free of the ladder and stood upright on the street, the sounds of the E.L.F’s around her filled her mind, drowning out the constant drone. She slid the cover back over the hole and looked around her.
They’re coming.
She could sense them. Cascaders, moving towards her position from underground, moving through the tunnels. She could feel their anger, their hate.
‘In the side street, near the ruins of the clock tower’.
Burt’s voice rang through her mind. For a moment panic started to overwhelm her and she suddenly felt alone in the complete darkness of the small town.
Focus… they’re coming…
“I know!” she shouted into the night. She quickly rummaged around her backpack, which she had earlier hid in one of the maintenance cupboards near the entrance to the tunnels, and found her flashlight. She switched it on and swept it around her.
“Okay, that’s what’s left of the library… police station… so clock tower should be…”
The stunted triangular dark shape was just visible against the lighter night sky behind the buildings in front of her. She took off, being careful to avoid the numerous craters which lay scattered across the concrete and ran down the street in front of her. Soon she was at another junction. Switching directions, she jogged forward until she caught sight of the rubble of what was left of the eighteenth century historic building which stood off the main street of the town. A small dark alley to the side beckoned. As she ran forward a tingling sensation filled her and she knew she was no longer alone.
She stopped and looked up, pointing her light in the same direction. A loud squawk filled the silence around her and huge wings created an updraft scattering her hair.
With a loud thud Mo landed on the concrete in front of her and hopped from foot to foot, mildly squawking.
“Mo!” She spring forward and hugged the monkey bird creature briefly.
“We have to go!”
He held his hands out.
“No, not flying. I have a car…” She ran forward to the alleyway and shone her light along it. Burt’s pickup sat proud, only just fitting within the width of the dirt path it was parked on.
She took a step towards it and realized at the same time as her pet did that they were not alone. Clovis stepped out of the shadows near the vehicle.
“Thought you’d come for his piece of crap truck,” he said, smiling.
Mo went to spring forward, when a growl came from further along the pathway, causing the Simivem to pause.
“Yeah, I got me a pet too. I had more but you killed them all.” Clovis walked to the passenger’s door of the pickup. “So we leaving or what.”
CHAPTER FIVE
As the dark forms of the newly growing landscape flowed by, Abbey’s mind kept threatening to shut down, and for her emotions to turn off. She had one hand on the wheel and the other on the only weapon she managed to smuggle out, a fully loaded Glock, a present from Bower.
They had been driving for about half an hour, and not a single word had broken the silence inside the cabin.
I’m responsible. He’s going to kill me. I’m responsible. They think I’m with him. Erin will hunt me with the Cascaders. I’m responsible. The aliens…
She let out a scream and slammed on the breaks, causing both of them to lunge forward.
The truck sat idling. She wanted to pull the gun out and shoot him. Kill him in cold blood and throw him out of—
“You got something you want to get off your chest, girly,” said Clovis.
Her head whipped around to him. “We agreed you would just cause a distraction! People were injured! Women and Children!”
“Was anyone killed?”
“No… I don’t think so, but that’s—”
For the first time since they started talking he looked at her. “That bastard wasn’t killed?”
“No, I think he was just knocked unconscious or something. Was that your great plan? Kill him, maybe take his place? He’s going to come for us, you know that right?”
Clovis looked forward. “We should keep on moving.”
“Where are you even going? Everyone in the outpost or camp, will want you arrested! Or dead!”
“I thought your boyfriend was in charge of the whole shindig.” He continued before she could answer. “He seemed okay with me back in the bunker.”
She knew the only reason Zach left Clovis alone was because he was part of Erin’s Cascaders, but like her, she also knew Zach was biding his time, and when the Erin problem was resolved, Clovis was next.
“He thought you might be useful, otherwise you would have been in jail.”
Clovis laughed. “Only one man ever got the better of me, and that ain’t your boy, Zach. The other man, we need to find a way to take care of.”
She sighed then pushed down on the gas pedal.
Soon they were riding on a stretch of highway that seemed to float above trees and hills. Occasionally a river, its waters rippling in the silver light of the moon would pass below. They both sensed the lack of creatures, but remained silent nonetheless.
The road descended as they entered a large town and more forgotten wrecks of vehicles started to slow their progress.
